Charlotte Holmes is again on the case in this second installment in Thomas' gender-reversed reinvention of the Sherlock Holmes franchise. She is rather enjoying her new calling as a private investigator in London until she receives a rather unsettling new client, the wife of one of her closest friends.

I'm really enjoying this series so far and, though the writing is delightful, I have one wish and one complaint. The wish: there are a great number of peripheral characters weaving in and out of the narrative, and I found it challenging at times to keep them straight, so I would have been pleased had a list of characters been included in the front of the book. The complaint: I'm growing increasingly uncomfortable with how obsessed the author is with Charlotte's eating habits, plumpness, and accounting of chins. While I recognize that personal details such as this are provided initially to give the reader a sense of a character, it now feels distinctly cringey to see it referenced in nearly every chapter — wholly unnecessary, unless essential to the plot. That said, I expect I'll continue reading further into the series. ( )

This second Charlotte Holmes novel continues on from the first with Charlotte making her home with Mrs. Watson and continuing to solve problems as the assistant for the reclusive "Sherlock Holmes" whose existence is fabricated. Her next case seems simple enough: find a missing man. But it quickly becomes quite complex.

Lady Ingram, the estranged wife of Charlotte's good friend and mentor, comes to her to find a man that she loved before she married. She tells a story of how they meet once a year in a public place and then go on with their lives. He missed this year's meeting and she is convinced that something bad happened to him. The story becomes more complex when Charlotte learns that Lady Ingram's lost love is her illegitimate brother Myron Finch.

Charlotte begins her investigation which quickly raises more questions than it answers and involves her with old enemies. Meanwhile, Lord Ingram is still living with a wife he no longer loves or respects but can't divorce for a number of reasons. And Lord Bancroft has renewed his proposal to Charlotte and is offering her codes and ciphers as incentives to accept his proposal.

Meanwhile Inspector Treadles is trying to solve the murder of a man found in a seldom used house and grateful that it is a straight-forward case that needn't involve Sherlock Holmes. Treadles is also dealing with a wife of his own who isn't quite fitting into the box he has built for her in his mind.

On the domestic front, Charlotte's sister Livia is attempting to write a novel about Sherlock Holmes which is starting to sound a lot like Arthur Conan Doyle's version. Livia has also met a man in the park who shares her love of literature but who is completely unsuitable to know because they haven't been introduced.

This was an engaging story that managed to braid all of these varied plot threads into an engaging and twisty mystery set in Victorian times. ( )

I got my titles mixed up and thought this was the first book in the series. I was worried that I would lose a lot doing it out of order but Ms Thomas gave me the pieces from the first book that I needed to make this one make sense. It starts off a little slow but soon it picks up steam and becomes the most wonderful ride. I'm incredibly impressed with how she's woven the world to account for the Holmes we know while giving us women of intelligence and agency. I'm especially impressed with the way she opened up a path for the love interest to be more involved later in the series while also having me root for the success of Holmes' suitor in this book.

I hadn't been that impressed with her romances but this book has changed my opinion on her writing. Can't wait to read the first book and anxiously await the next installment. ( )

I totally love this book. Charlotte Holmes is such a fabulous character and I enjoyed the book so much that not even half-way through did I order the first book in the series. I had no problem whatsoever getting into this book. However, I'm deeply curious to learn more about Charlotte's past transgressions that made her being shunned by her family and society. And, most of all I want to know more about her "creating" Sherlock Holmes. And, the case she was involved in the first book.

The story starts off interesting with Charlotte being contacted by Lady Ingram to find her first love. This case becomes very "personal" since Lady Ingram, of course, is the wife of Charlotte's dear friend Lord Ingram. A man that she, well, Charlotte may be very analytic, but if there is one man for her, would that be Ash Ingram. So, yes, very personal case. Still, Charlotte being Charlotte doesn't mean that she will let her emotion's rule the case. Not even when it's revealed that it's her own half-brother the Lady is looking for. Then, we have the proposal from Lord Ingram's brother Bancroft (Made me think of Mycroft, of course, lol) that Charlotte ponders over during the book. I found the case interesting, and yes I was surprised by the ending.

Now Charlotte, of course, like Sherlock Holmes has a weakness and if he needed the seven-per-cent solution is Charlotte's more the seven cookie solution. Yes, she needs cookies, not cocaine. Love that.

This is a book that surprised me. I did not expect to love it as much as I did. I love reading Sherlock Holmes pastiches and this is beside the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King my favorite so far. And, I have only read one book.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Edelweiss for an honest review! ( )

Sherry Thomas only writes good books.